Osteoporosis tests could save Welsh NHS £4.5m, NOS says

The National Osteoporosis Society (NOS) has called for every hospital in Wales to provide more services to help diagnose osteoporosis, in a move that could save the NHS £4.5 million per year.

The Society claimed that only half of hospitals in the country were providing fracture liaison services, even though current trends indicated that one in two women and one in five men over the age of 50 will break a bone due to poor health.

Data found that on average people suffer on to three fractures before they are diagnosed.

The group argued that using fracture liaison services at hospitals can identify if people with broken bones have osteoporosis, or if they are at risk of the condition.

Dr David Byfield, of the University of South Wales, said: "At the age of 30 you start to lose one per cent of your bone each year. You lose two per cent of the scaffolding of the bone.

"When you reach menopause that increases by about 10-fold and in the lumbar spine that increases 20-fold, so there's a massive drop in the ability for the bone to sustain itself."

Louise Fox, the charity's development manager for Wales, said: “There's a huge lack of provision in rural areas, particularly looking at parts of mid Wales and that makes a huge difference. We know these people can't access fracture liaison services so potentially their osteoporosis is going undiagnosed."

A Welsh Government spokesman said: "We have provided additional funding to support extra physiotherapists as part of a community-based approach to dealing with musculoskeletal conditions.

"This is part of a £40 million national primary care fund to provide care for people closer to their homes.

"This not only avoids patients waiting to be referred by a GP but enables those who need to be seen in secondary care to be seen more quickly."